Singapore Airlines is reducing significantly its presence in the USA by stopping its non stop service from Singapore to Newark. The decision to withdraw from this symbolic route is due to heavy competition from the Middle East which offers frequencies and superior comfort.
SINGAPORE – Prestige does not pay anymore even for a carrier like Singapore Airlines. Singapre national flying pride is facing hefty competition not only from the rest of the Asian continent but also increasingly from the Middle East. The termination of SIA non–stop flights to the United States on November 23 marks the end of an era which commenced back to June 2004. Singapore-Newark was by then the world’s longest route -16,700 km- reached on a 19-hour flight by an Airbus A340. The flight originally offered both economy and business class seats. But in 2006, SIA revamped the product, offering an all-business class configuration with fares being sold for US$ 10,000. The termination of the non-stop Singapore-New York follows the axing on October 20 of Singapore-Los Angeles. The route was the world’s second longest spanning 14,114km. SIA continues to serve Los Angeles via Tokyo with an Airbus A380.
“The connection will be discontinued because it’s no longer worth it,” an airline spokesperson said to German news agency Dpa. Singapore Airlines is consequently back to the real world. And this real world has various factors: high jet fuel prices which turn ultra-long routes unprofitable; and the rising competition from Emirates, Qatar Airways and Etihad. The three Gulf carriers offer today many daily frequencies from Singapore with immediate connections to New York. Even by keeping its current one-stop service from Singapore to New York JFK via Frankfurt, the Singaporean carrier will struggle to keep up with the competition.
SIA total number of weekly seats offered in the US market will significantly be reduced from 26,000 to 22,000 as no additional flights are planned. It will put Singapore Airlines on pair with China Airlines (Taiwan) in terms of seats’ capacity to the USA. With the closure of the route, Southeast Asia loses its last non-stop route to the United States. Malaysia Airlines and Thai Airways axed already non-stop flights to the USA a few years ago. The largest Asian carriers to the USA are now Korean Air, Japan Airlines, All Nippon Airways and Cathay Pacific.
Luc Citrinot a French national is a freelance journalist and consultant in tourism and air transport with over 20 years experience. Based in Paris and Bangkok, he works for various travel and air transport trade publications in Europe and Asia.
